The Colas c30.8

c30.8

Trade was carried on by merchants banded together in powerful guilds and corporations. The *maṇigrāmam* of Koḍumbāḷūr endowing a charitable trust in Salem,¹⁴ the Vaḷañjiyar of Tiruppuṟambiyam,¹⁵ are examples of such associations. There were also the Teliki of Bezwada mentioned in the inscriptions of Rājarāja II;¹⁶ the *satyavācakas* (truth-tellers), also called *dhanmavāṇiyar* (the just merchants) who maintained a *maṭha* called after themselves and supplied the *tiruk-koḍi* (the holy flag) at the three annual festivals at Tiruvaṇṇāmalai;¹⁷ the *sūcakar karuṇākara vīrar* or the *vaḷañjiyar* of Tennilangai who paid contributions from 1189 for the maintenance of a Vaiṣṇava *maṭha* at Tirukaṇṇapuram;¹⁸ and the *vaḷañjiyar* of Tinnevelly who had the *kārāṇmai* of the lands of the local temple, on condition that they provided for certain specified requirements for the services in the temple.¹⁹ About A.D. 1207 the merchant communities of Nellūr, Nārāyaṇapuram, Ārkāḍu, Mayilāppūr, Tiruvoṟṟiyūr, Pūndamali, Neḍumpirai, Damanakaccēri, Perungalūr and Tirunīṟu co-operated together in acquiring a whole village and giving it as *dēvadāna* to the temple of Tiruppāśūr, for constructing a *madil*, an enclosing wall; the village was left by the merchants in charge of Tammu Siddhi.²⁰ Again, an inscription of 1235 from Anbil mentions an assemblage of the *Cittira-mēḻipperiya nāṭṭār*, the *tiśai-āyirattu aiññūṟṟuvar*, the *Śeṭṭis* of the *nāḍus* in many *maṇḍalas*, *davanac-ceṭṭis*, Jayapālas, *munai-vīra-koḍiyar*, the excellent *śilpis*, and the *mudar-paḍai-kalanaiyār*; the assembly described themselves by the phrase *Rājarājap-perunīrāviyōm*; the object of the meeting is unfortunately not clear, for the inscription is damaged.²¹ Lastly, the *vaḷañjiyar* and the *nānādēśiyat-tiśai-āyirattaiññūṟṟuvar* built a part of the temple at Tiruvilakkuḍi.²²